Photo of the Day 354

Asian Puppets and Sculptures, Chicago, Illinois, 2002

Photograph by Catherine Karnow

Asian religious sculptures and puppets welcome visitors to the Indochina Company, a specialty shop in Chicago's trendy Wicker Park neighborhood. First incorporated in 1837, Wicker Park's diverse real estate has attracted an eclectic mix of residents, from steel workers to beer barons to artists.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "48 Hours Chicago: Comfort in the Windy City," April 2002, National Geographic Traveler magazine)

Photo of the Day 176

Cloud-Shrouded Skyline, Chicago, 1978

Photograph by Steve Raymer

A blanket of clouds shrouds the Chicago skyline in the metropolis that poet Carl Sandburg dubbed "the city of the big shoulders."

The "stormy, husky, brawling" Chicago of Sandburg doubled and tripled in population after 1850. It saw the first skyscraper rise in 1885 and the tallest in 1974. Once known for its meatpacking industry, the city today runs on finance, shipping, and iron and steelworks.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Chicago!" April 1978, National Geographic magazine)